Scan barcode
woodsybookworm's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The Deading begins with body horror - a truly terrifying experience with snails that has made me a little fearful of the slimy creatures, but after the first few chapters the story took a complete turn.
The cover and blurb for the book sucked me in, thinking this would be science fiction body horror a combination of Annihilation and The Birds. Instead the book focused mainly on birding and the scientific descriptions of birds and aquatic animals. I'd hoped the book would go into more detail on the body horror it teased from the first chapter but we never really got back to it.
With six different perspectives - four in third person and two in first person (with one of those perspectives being an unnamed character) - it was hard to keep up with what was happening in the story. I wanted to learn more about Bernhard and Chango's transformations and the entity but we barely got any time with the most interesting characters.
As much as I hoped to like The Deading, it wasn't for me. Received as an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington/Erewhon Books.
The cover and blurb for the book sucked me in, thinking this would be science fiction body horror a combination of Annihilation and The Birds. Instead the book focused mainly on birding and the scientific descriptions of birds and aquatic animals. I'd hoped the book would go into more detail on the body horror it teased from the first chapter but we never really got back to it.
With six different perspectives - four in third person and two in first person (with one of those perspectives being an unnamed character) - it was hard to keep up with what was happening in the story. I wanted to learn more about Bernhard and Chango's transformations and the entity but we barely got any time with the most interesting characters.
As much as I hoped to like The Deading, it wasn't for me. Received as an ARC from NetGalley and Kensington/Erewhon Books.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Torture, Animal death, Murder, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Violence, Death, and Self harm
tifftastic87's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I received an e-ARC of the Deading from NetGalley and Kensington books in exchange for a fair review.
An unusual snail discovered at an oyster farm causes a whole town to be quarantined by the US government as a weird behavior strikes the majority of the population. A young man who is very interested in birding stands strong against "the deading" that many others in the town succumb to and fights to save his family and friends.
I really wanted to like this story a lot. The premise is really good, but I think the execution was rather rough. The book starts off with a collective third person, a Greek Chorus as described by the author, which I think made for an eerie start and if it had just stuck to the prologue and epilogue I think would have worked better, rather than including the random chapters in the middle using this pov. Unfortunately, the point of view switches nearly every chapter with some in first, some in collective third, some in limited third, one in second, and some switching within the chapter. This style was very hard to follow and made for a confusing lens to view the events. I could see this working if the flow was better but they felt a little disjointed and getting pov chapters from six characters was a bit much. I still don't understand why Kumi's chapters were in first person.
The second issue with the execution was the sheer number of science info dumps. The first chapter focused heavily on climate change and warming waters and a lot of, what felt like, unnecessary detail for something that isn't really relied on in the narrative later. Very shortly after that we started with the intricate details of identifying birds to species and the names of parts of their anatomy, I'll be honest I started skimming those. It really slowed the story down in those places, changed the tone and made it feel like Belardes just wanted to flex his bird knowledge muscles. I understand this is a passion of his, but it felt really forced just for the sake of being there.
In terms of the horror elements, honestly the snails and their role felt really played down and I wanted more of it. I didn't understand how Bernhard continued to play a role even though we went back to him a couple of times. It felt like nothing was really explained. Some of the best scenes for the horror element were with the Risers, which I still don't understand, in the church. I got really invested and then it fell away again. Everything felt like disjointed ideas and I wanted them to connect and I couldn't find the connection.
I enjoy horror with weird vibey elements, I don't always need it explained, Our Wives Under the Sea is a great example where the reason, the why, is never explained but we get an explanation of the events is happening. We are shown in clear fashion the events that unfold and it is very tense and atmospheric but light on the gore. This could have been a very atmospheric horror with a fair amount of gore that would have worked really well for me, but I think Belardes tried to do too much all at once.
I will still likely pick up a final copy on release and see how things have changed and am very appreciative of the chance to read something early that I really thought would be for me. It is unfortunate that it wasn't.
An unusual snail discovered at an oyster farm causes a whole town to be quarantined by the US government as a weird behavior strikes the majority of the population. A young man who is very interested in birding stands strong against "the deading" that many others in the town succumb to and fights to save his family and friends.
I really wanted to like this story a lot. The premise is really good, but I think the execution was rather rough. The book starts off with a collective third person, a Greek Chorus as described by the author, which I think made for an eerie start and if it had just stuck to the prologue and epilogue I think would have worked better, rather than including the random chapters in the middle using this pov. Unfortunately, the point of view switches nearly every chapter with some in first, some in collective third, some in limited third, one in second, and some switching within the chapter. This style was very hard to follow and made for a confusing lens to view the events. I could see this working if the flow was better but they felt a little disjointed and getting pov chapters from six characters was a bit much. I still don't understand why Kumi's chapters were in first person.
The second issue with the execution was the sheer number of science info dumps. The first chapter focused heavily on climate change and warming waters and a lot of, what felt like, unnecessary detail for something that isn't really relied on in the narrative later. Very shortly after that we started with the intricate details of identifying birds to species and the names of parts of their anatomy, I'll be honest I started skimming those. It really slowed the story down in those places, changed the tone and made it feel like Belardes just wanted to flex his bird knowledge muscles. I understand this is a passion of his, but it felt really forced just for the sake of being there.
In terms of the horror elements, honestly the snails and their role felt really played down and I wanted more of it. I didn't understand how Bernhard continued to play a role even though we went back to him a couple of times. It felt like nothing was really explained. Some of the best scenes for the horror element were with the Risers, which I still don't understand, in the church. I got really invested and then it fell away again. Everything felt like disjointed ideas and I wanted them to connect and I couldn't find the connection.
I enjoy horror with weird vibey elements, I don't always need it explained, Our Wives Under the Sea is a great example where the reason, the why, is never explained but we get an explanation of the events is happening. We are shown in clear fashion the events that unfold and it is very tense and atmospheric but light on the gore. This could have been a very atmospheric horror with a fair amount of gore that would have worked really well for me, but I think Belardes tried to do too much all at once.
I will still likely pick up a final copy on release and see how things have changed and am very appreciative of the chance to read something early that I really thought would be for me. It is unfortunate that it wasn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Classism, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Self harm, and Racism
Moderate: Murder, Drug use, and Cursing
More...